Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's cross-country

Women's cross-country at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue	Laoshan Mountain Bike Course
Dates	August 23, 2008
Competitors	30 from 21 nations
Winning time	1:45:11
Medalists
Sabine Spitz   Germany Maja Włoszczowska   Poland Irina Kalentieva   Russia
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The women's cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course on August 23, 2008.

Germany's Sabine Spitz opened up a commanding, one-minute lead from the rest of the field and then stayed out in front to a spectacular finish with a gold-medal time in 1:45:11. ^{[1] [2]} Trailing behind the leader by more than forty seconds, Poland's Maja Włoszczowska took home the silver in 1:45:52, while Russian rider Irina Kalentieva held off a tight battle with Canada's Catharine Pendrel down the final lap to grab the bronze in 1:46:28. ^{[3] [4]} Among the 30 mountain bikers who competed in the cross-country race, only eighteen of them managed to complete the full distance.

Competition format

The competition began at 10:00 am with a mass-start in which riders are positioned according to their current world ranking so that the higher-ranked riders are near the front. The cross-country race also involved six laps, with 172 m of elevation change for each, around the 4.45 km course at Laoshan Mountain Bike Course. ^[5] The overall distance of the race was 26.70 km.

Schedule

All times are China standard time (UTC+8) ^[6]

Date	Time	Round
Saturday, 23 August 2008	10:00	Final

Result

Rank	Rider	Country	Time
	Sabine Spitz	Germany	1:45:11
	Maja Włoszczowska	Poland	1:45:52
	Irina Kalentieva	Russia	1:46:28
4	Catharine Pendrel	Canada	1:46:37
5	Ren Chengyuan	China	1:47:40
6	Petra Henzi	Switzerland	1:48:41
7	Mary McConneloug	United States	1:50:34
8	Georgia Gould	United States	1:50:51
9	Rosara Joseph	New Zealand	1:51:07
10	Aleksandra Dawidowicz	Poland	1:51:21
11	Elisabeth Osl	Austria	1:51:39
12	Liu Ying	China	1:52:01
13	Lene Byberg	Norway	1:53:19
14	Elsbeth van Rooy-Vink	Netherlands	1:53:30
15	Nathalie Schneitter	Switzerland	1:53:42
16	Eva Lechner	Italy	1:58:22
17	Laurence Leboucher	France	2:00:55
18	Adelheid Morath	Germany	2:02:25
19	Jaqueline Mourão	Brazil	LAP (1 lap)
20	Rie Katayama	Japan	LAP (1 lap)
21	Blaža Klemenčič	Slovenia	LAP (1 lap)
22	Yolande Speedy	South Africa	LAP (2 laps)
23	Vera Andreeva	Russia	LAP (2 laps)
24	Janka Števková	Slovakia	LAP (2 laps)
25	Dellys Starr	Australia	LAP (2 laps)
26	Francisca Campos	Chile	LAP (2 laps)
	Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå	Norway	DNF
	Margarita Fullana	Spain	DNF
	Marie-Hélène Prémont	Canada	DNF
	Tereza Huříková	Czech Republic	DNF

References

1. "Spitz Wins Germany's First Cycling Gold at Beijing Olympics". Xinhua . China Radio International. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on October 25, 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
2. "Germany's Spitz wins women's mountain bike gold". ABC News Australia. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
3. Dreier, Fred (23 August 2008). "Spitz wins scorcher in Beijing". Velo News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
4. Byers, Jim (23 August 2008). "Catharine Pendrel fourth in women's mountain bike, Premont pulls out". Toronto Star . Retrieved 24 October 2013.
5. "Mountain Biking Competition Format". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
6. "Mountain Biking: Results and Schedules". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.